The stories that live with women forever
In fourth grade, Sheryl Lee Ralph was the only Black girl in her Connecticut school. A teacher, a nun, a so-called woman of God, chastised her for not practicing piano. "I don't have to take students like you," she told Ralph before slamming the lid of the piano, narrowly missing Ralph's hands.
Students like you.
Today, on top of a decades-long career owning her voice in Hollywood, Ralph is only the second Black woman to win an Emmy for supporting actress in a comedy for her role in "Abbott Elementary." She's also one of Paste BN's 2023 Woman of the Year honorees, a project which honors local and national heroines who make a positive impact in their communities and across the country every day. You can check out all of this year's honorees — including Academy Award-winning actor Goldie Hawn, NASA astronaut Col. Nicole Mann and more — here.
👋 Nicole Fallert here, and welcome to Your Week, our newsletter exclusively for Paste BN subscribers. This week, we talk with Paste BN columnist Suzette Hackney about her conversations with honorees Ralph and Michelle Obama for the Women of the Year series.
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The stories that live with women forever
Hackney is a self-proclaimed early-adopter of "Abbott Elementary," the award-winning television comedy series about an underfunded Philadelphia public school in a mostly Black neighborhood. Ralph stars as kindergarten teacher Barbara Howard who serves healthy doses of wise realism.
"There were lots of gems," Hackney said of her Women of the Year conversation with Ralph.
Beyond sharing personal stories, like her experience in fourth grade, Hackney said Ralph spoke of the barriers she's faced and overcome as a Black woman in Hollywood: "She just embodies perseverance, and it's so beautiful to see her on the other end of it now."
Fellow honoree Michelle Obama also demonstrates this quality of determination, Hackney said. Obama has had a nonstop year producing her podcast, releasing a second book and working with fellow "powerhouse women" to propel cause-driven work (most recently a coalition with Amal Clooney and Melinda French Gates to end early child marriages).
"It's really cool to watch Michelle in this new world," Hackney said. "She was under such a watchful and critical eye, and as soon as she fled [the White House] she got to do everything she wants to do."
- Stay tuned: Obama's Women of the Year profile will be released this week.
With both Ralph and Obama, Hackney understood how their experiences, positive and negative, are part of what pushes them forward and inspires the women and girls who follow.
"These experiences that happen to these women, they live with them forever. It's a part of them," Hackney said.
Women of the Year is a "huge undertaking" by the Paste BN newsroom, Hackney said, born out of the 2020 Women of the Century project, which showcased remarkable women in American history in the century since they won the right to vote with the passage of the 19th Amendment.
"We are tapping into extraordinary women doing extraordinary things, and you won't get that kind of content anywhere else," said Hackney, who has worked on the project for consecutive years, interviewing honorees and helping organize the series.
And it's not just about the big names, too. The project highlights women in each state, showcasing the "real power" that Hackney said can be found in local women-led movements.
Across the series, Hackney said it's "very striking" how many women had been told they weren't enough or didn't belong in their industries — but they used "their pain for purpose."
In reading this year's Women of the Year series, Hackney said readers should take this message to heart: "Even as small as you may be made to feel, you keep going. You don't stop."
Thank you.
While women make history every day, it's important to take a step back during Women's History Month and celebrate how women have shaped our communities and beyond. I, for one, feel especially inspired to take on the challenges that come and make the most of them. I hope you do, too.
Best wishes,
Nicole Fallert